A Concise History of Palmyra

For a brief, shining moment in time the Savior walked the earth, taught His gospel, performed miracles, and instructed His disciples. But after His crucifixion and the deaths of His apostles, false doctrines arose - on both the eastern hemisphere and the western hemisphere - until the Covenant of Abraham was taken and a great apostasy filled the whole earth. For nearly 1,500 years the Gentiles reigned amidst pestilence and darkness until the Father and the Son once again appeared to man, heralding the ministering of angels and the restoration of the Priesthood, and bringing the Times of the Gentiles to an end. The wondrous events that occurred in the humble hills and valleys around Palmyra, New York, would initiate the restoration of all things and usher in the dispensation of the Fullness of Times.

E. Keith Howick was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. He served his mission in the West Central States mission (today the Montana, Billings mission). Upon his return, he married Gail Braithwaite and attended the University of Utah, from which he received Baccalaureate and Masters degrees in Political Science and a Juris Doctor degree in Law. Brother Howick and his wife have six children and ten grandchildren.Brother Howick has enjoyed a long career teaching the Gospel. While on his mission he began compiling his first book, the Index to The History of the Church, which is still published by Deseret Book. More recently, he presented a series of firesides in the St. George Tabernacle discussing the life of our Savior. He has taught New Testament and Church History classes at Brigham Young University, New Testament classes at the University of Utah and Montana State University Institutes of Religion, and The Book of Mormon during early morning Seminary. He has served as a substitute teacher for CES, has spoken at regional and local firesides, and has taught countless Gospel Doctrine classes.Over the years, Brother Howick has served a stake mission and in a stake mission presidency, as ward mission leader, ward Seventies Group Leader, Branch President and Bishop. During these years he wrote his first books about the Savior, The Life of Jesus the Messiah series, that discuss the life of Jesus Christ topically. During the last three years, Brother Howick has published the Challenged by the Restoration series of activity and study books and Prophets of the Old Testament. He also writes weekly e-mail newsletters about the Gospel, Joseph Smith, and the Restoration.Brother Howick is currently the Gospel Doctrine teacher and assistant Melchizedek Priesthood leader in the Wallace Branch of the Hayden Lake Idaho Stake.